A verdict of misadventure was returned yesterday by the jury in the inquest into the death of Blair Peach, the London teacher killed in a demonstration against the National Front last year.Lawyers for Mr Peach's family said that they would be appealing against the verdict.

The five men and four women on the jury, who took 4 3/4 hours to reach their unanimous verdict, added three riders:"That there should be more liaison between the Special Patrol Group and the ordinary police, and that the SPG are wherever possible, more controlled by their officers; "When demonstrations are likely that the SPG and the police should be in possession of maps of the area; That no unauthorised instruments should be available in police stations and that regular inspections should be carried out."

The inquest, which lasted for four weeks, was held at Hammersmith coroner's court in West London.Dr John Burton, the coroner, said that he could record the third comment only as a conclusion and not as a rider because the jury had not found that Mr Peach was killed by an unauthorised weapon.

At a press conference afterwards, Mrs Celia Stubbs, Mr Peach's girlfriend, said:"The verdict confirms that he was killed by a policeman. But the policeman who killed him is scot-free." The riders were incredible because "they seem to suggest that they (the SPG) have a free reign to operate as they want to," she said.

Mr Alexis Grower, the solicitor for the family and the Anti Nazi League, said: "There will be a very determined effort, to have the verdict quashed." He said that his initial reaction was to go to the High Court for a new inquest to be called before a new coroner.

Both Mrs Stubbs and Mr Paul Holborrow, general secretary of the Anti Nazi League said that they would be renewing their demands for a public inquiry into the events in Southall on April 23, last year.Sir Michael Havers, the Attorney-General, indicated last year that a decision on this would have to wait until after the inquest.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir David McNee, in a statement said that he had noted the verdict and the riders. "A number of the points raised in those riders have already been carried out by the deputy commissioner in his inquiry into the function of the SPG and the necessary action instituted," said the statement. "The remainder will receive careful attention. Sir David wishes to point out that all the facts known to the police were put before Her Majesty's coroner. Forty SPG officers, being there on duty in the vicinity of the incident, gave evidence before the coroner," it said.

Before the jury retired, Dr Burton had directed them on the three possible verdicts they could return, one of which would be open.He said that they could decide on unlawful killing if they thought that Mr Peach had been peacefully walking home from the demonstration and the SPG attacked him without cause, or if he was deliberately injured by the SPG because they were angry at injuries done to their own men.For misadventure, he said that they had to decide whether a riot was taking place when demonstrators were throwing stones, and whether Mr Peach was part of the riot.It was then a question of deciding whether the police used reasonable force."If it was reasonable, the verdict will be misadventure even if the police were mistaken in their understanding of the facts," Dr Burton had said.

The same verdict would be appropriate if Mr Peach was hit by a policeman while chasing another person wanted for arrest.Mr Holborrow, speaking at the press conference yesterday, gave the jury's choice of misadventure a firmer interpretation than did Mrs Stubbs:"We regard the verdict as establishing beyond any reasonable doubt that the police killed Blair Peach," he said, "The riders indicated that the SPG is an uncontrolled private army and that the police, at this moment, have a licence to kill"

He said that the ANL was disturbed at the way the coroner had conducted the inquest because the jury were "hamstrung" by not having the Cass Report, the document detailing results of the internal police investigation into Mr Peach's death. It was on the basis of this that the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that no policeman should be prosecuted.The ANL's campaign, charging that the police had operated a cover-up, had been vindicated, Mr Holborrow said."If it had been a policeman who had been killed, someone would have been charged with murder or conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice," he said.Another critic of the SPG, the National Council for Civil Liberties said yesterday that the squad should not be used on any demonstrations again, "particularly since no evidence was produced at the inquest to suggest that Blair Peach was killed by anyone other than an SPG officer."

The NCCL said that its committee which produced an unofficial report on the events in Southall would be preparing a supplementary report on the "adequacy of inquests into this sort of situation."Of the six SPG officers considered by the policy investigation to be the main suspects, four have been transferred. One has been suspended after unauthorised weapons were found in his locker.Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed that Inspector Alan Murray, who led the police charge into the Southall crowd, was to resign.

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